Paperboard innovations deliver strength and beauty: from coatings and laminations to recycled content, paperboard cartons incorporate whatever it takes to meet the market's needs

Food & Drug Packaging, July, 2002 by Kate Bertrand

According to Stora Enso, the shelf life of wine cartons lined with this coating is six to eight months. And, because there is no aluminum in the package, consumers can dispose of the cartons on the campfire.

RELATED ARTICLE: Recycled board protects, insulates frozen novelties.

As Athens, Tenn.-based Mayfield Dairy Farms expanded distribution of frozen novelty products such as ice cream bare and sandwiches, the company realized it needed a paperboard carton that would better protect and insulate these products.

"We have been expanding into markets such as Miami, which are considerably farther away than the markets we traditionally served," says Alan Owen, Mayfield's marketing manager. "We needed packaging that would provide greater protection for the products in transit and better insulation at retail."

To meet these requirements, Mayfield selected cartons made of Rock-Tenn Co.'s Millennium Board. This is a recycled stock that provides an alternative to clay-coated solid unbleached sulfate (CCSUS) board. According to Rock-Tenn, in free-fall crush tests of this material, N-flute, CCSUS and SBS, Millennium Board performed comparably or better than all the other substrates.

"This material provides considerable strength vs. 18-point CCSUS board," Owen reports. He adds that compared with other substrates Mayfield could have chosen, "The cost advantage with Millenium Board, considering the benefits we have derived from using it, is substantial."